Novartis announces ‘milestone’ European approval for Galvus

Novartis has announced that Galvus (vildagliptin) has received European Union approval as a new treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The once-daily oral treatment has been shown to deliver robust blood sugar reductions and is also the only drug in its class to offer a wide range of indications for use in combination therapies with other anti-diabetic medicines.

Galvus, member of the new class of drugs – DPP-4 inhibitors, has been approved for use in combination with the common oral anti-diabetes medicines metformin, thiazolidinediones and sulfonylureas.

Burkhard Goke, from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, described the announcement as a “milestone” for the multitudinous type 2 diabetes patients across Europe who were being treated but still not reaching optimal blood sugar levels.

“Galvus lowers high blood sugar levels with no weight gain and a low incidence of hypoglycaemia, two side effects commonly associated with currently available drugs such as SUs and TZDs.”

The approval will apply to all 27 European Union member states, as well as Norway and Iceland.

Earlier this month, Novartis announced the publication of new clinical data showing Galvus to have “robust efficacy and tolerability” in the treatment of patients with type two diabetes.